Distribution of lubricant and compressed air in a mulling machine



Apnl 30, 1968 T. A. PARKE 3,380,668

DISTRIBUTION OF LUBRICANT AND COMPRESSED AIR IN A MULLING MACHINE FiledJan. 26, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 5e ,5 i i k \\L,L T A/25 Fig ii s; g4

Aprfl 30, 1968 T. A. PARKE 3,380,668

DISTRIBUTION OF LUBRICANT ANI) COMPRESSED AIR IN A MULLINS MACHINE FiledJan. 26, 1966 3 Sheets-$heet Ls United States Patent 3,380,668DISTRIBUTION OF LUBRICANT AND COM- FRESSED AER IN A MULLING MACHINEThomas A. Parke, ()adby, Engiand, assignor to Richards Structural SteelCompany Limited, Leicester, England, a British company Filed Jan. 26,1966, Ser. No. 523,209 Ciaims priority, application Great Britain, Feb.2, 1965, 4,390/65 3 Claims. (Cl. 241-48) The invention forming thesubject of this specification has been made in respect of mulling andmixing machines of the kind used for kneading and mixing such pourablebulk materials as foundry sand, refractory earths, and so on, andcomprising a rotatable mulling and mixing assembly which is traversedover the bottom of an opentopped container (usually termed a crib) whichis charged with the pourable material. This assembly comprises acrosshead which is mounted on a turret and driven by a main shaft, thiscrosshead carrying at least one mulling wheel which rolls over thebottom of the crib, as the crosshead revolves, to knead the treatedmaterial, and at least one plough which depends from the crosshead andturns over material into the path of the mulling wheel. Machines of thischaracter and incorporating the features referred to will hereinafter bedescribed as of the kind specified.

The moving parts of these mulling or mixing assemblies are usuallycalled upon to perform a heavy duty, whilst often exposed to penetratingdust or sand. Consequently efficient lubrication is vital, and at thesame time more difficult.

Moreover in certain types of machine provision is made for operatingsome functions pneumatically. As examples we would cite the machinesdescribed in United States Letters Patent No. 3,136,490, now abandoned,where compressed air is used to control adjustment of the working heightof the plough blades, and in United States patent application Ser. No.499,402, where the mulling wheels are subject to pneumatic control.

One object of this invention is a unit which groups these servicestogether in a single supply centre.

Another object of this present invention is a compact unit for thesimultaneous distribution of lubricant and compressed air to variousservice parts of the mulling assembly whilst the latter is revolvingduring the machine operation.

A further object of the invention is an efficient unit which can beinstalled in existing machines without modification of the main workingparts.

Yet another object is to allow all the working parts of a mullingassembly to be supplied with lubricant and air from a single fixedmember which can be of comparatively small dimensions and thereforeeasily maintained and shielded.

The mechanisms in the machine serviced with compressed air may mostadvantageously be operable by reversing the compressed air how to themechanisms at appropriate times, to allow for control of the movementsof a part in one sense or the opposite one. Examples in point are theclamping and unclamping of a plough stem in the aforesaid Letters PatentNo. 3,136,490, or the lowering or raising of a mulling wheel in thearrangement described in patent application Ser. No. 499,402, nowabandoned.

A still further object of the present invention is a distributor unitwhich will cater neatly for this more sophisticated air control withoutundue elaboration or increase in bulk of the unit.

In the operation of machines used to mull foundry "ice sand, Water maybe sprayed or otherwise applied to the sand, whilst it is beingprocessed, to assist the mulling and mixing.

A further object of the invention is a unit for the selectivedistribution of pneumatic or hydraulic fluid, lubricant or grease, andwater to a revolving mulling assembly.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will bedisclosed by the ensuing description of an example of a mulling andmixing machine provided with a distributor unit in accordance with thepresent invention having reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the complete machine,

FIGURE 2 is a partial side view of the machine illustrated in FIGURE 1,with parts broken away,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical cross section through the upper part ofthe distributor unit with which the ma chine shown in FIGURE 1 isequipped, and

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal cross section on the line IVIV of FIGURE 3.

The mulling and mixing machine illustrated comprises a cylindrical crib1 with a mulling assembly, generally designated 2, rotatable in thiscrib on a central turret 3 by a vertical drive shaft passing through thecentre of the bottom of the crib and powered from the underside of thecrib. Details of this drive mechanism have not been illustrated in thedrawings, since they can be of standard construction and form no part ofthe present invention.

In the case illustrated the mulling assembly comprises a crossheadcasting 4 incorporating lateral bearing shoulders 5 in which arerotatably supported wheel pivot spindles 6. Each of the spindles 6 isfastened at one end to a pivot arm 7 which is formed at its other endwith a sleeve bearing 8 for the rotary shaft of one of the two mullingwheels 9 used in this machine. By virtue of this form of suspension,known per se, the mulling wheels are able to rise and fall to a limiteddegree as they ride over the material being mulled and mixed in the crib1.

The crosshead casting 4 is further provided with arms 10 and 11 whichrespectively support an inner plough 12 and an outer plough 13. Inaccordance with conventional practice, these ploughs are used to scrapeup and turn over the material being processed into the path of themulling wheels 9, respectively from the inner and outer areas of thecrib 1. The inner plough 12 is suspended by a stem 14 which is fixedlysecured to the arm 10, whilst the stem 15 carrying the outer plough 13is adapted to be adjusted vertically relatively to the crosshead arm 11,to compensate blade wear, by means which will be further discussedbelow.

It is further intended that the crosshead assembly shall be providedwith a water sprinkler to spray the sand or other material undertreatment so as to assist the mulling and mixing operation. This will beacompli-shed by the use of sprinkler pipes, perforated at theirundersides, extending radially from each of two diametrically oppositesides of head 4 in accordance with known procedure. To avoid overloadingthe drawing these pipes have not been illustrated, but FIGURE 2 portraysone of the holes 16 in which the pipes will be screwed, so that theywill turn in the crib 1 with the remainder of the mulling assembly, viz.the head 4, the mulling Wheels 9 and the ploughs 12 and 13.

The means provided in arm 11 for vertical wear-compensating adjustmentof the outer plough 13 are assumed to be generally of the form describedin the aforesaid letters Patent No. 3,136,490, and will now be onlybriefly described.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the arm 11 is of hollowconstruction so as to define or accommodate, at its inner part, an aircylinder 17 containing a pneumatic piston 18. The piston 18 is connectedthrough a rod 19 with the inner jaw 20 of a pair of recessed jaws 20, 21which are arranged to clamp and unclamp the plough stem for cuttingpurposes, as described in the aforesaid Letters Patent No. 3,136,490. Inpractice, at the end of the mulling of a batch of sand or the like andwith the crib empty, it is arranged that compressed air shall beintroduced into the outer chamber 22 of the air cylinder 17, thereby topush the piston 18 inwards relatively to the crib and so release thestem. 15, allowing the blade of plough 13 to repose on the bottom of thecrib. On restarting the machine and the rotation of the mullingassembly, compressed air is supplied to the chamber 23 at the other sideof piston 18, and pushed out of chamber 22 so that the jaw again engagesthe stem 15 and urges it to a slight extent in the radial direction, andwith it the outer jaw 21, against the action of springs 24 bearingagainst the outer side of the latter. As described in the aforesaidLetters Patent the jaws, in performing this motion, move on a wedgeslideway thereby to produce a very slight lifting of the stem 15, andhence of the bottom edge of plough blade 13, to give the latter apre-determined small clearance from the bottom of the crib.

The distributor unit with which the machine illustrated is equipped, inpursuance of the present invention, is intended to make availablecompressed air, grease, and water to the operating parts of the assemblyreferred to. The water supply is to feed the sprinkler pipes, and it isnow to be assumed that grease is required in particular to lubricate therotary bearings of the mulling wheels 9 and the pivot bearings for theshafts 6 in sleeve 5. In this particular instance, moreover, it isrequired to make a reversible supply of compressed air available tooperate the means for adjusting the plough 13 as described above.

The distributor unit provided for these purposes comprises asubstantially cylindrical head 25 in the form of a cap which is fittedover an upstanding boss on the crosshead 4 and is secured to this head,so as to rotate therewith, through bolts of which one is illustrated at26 in FIGURE 3. The head 25 has an integral, central, upstanding spigot27 which is bored centrally with a water channel 28 of substantialdiameter. At its upper end the channel 28 is enlarged at 29 for thereception of the threaded end 30 of a coupling pipe section 31. Thissection 31 is connected at its upper end, through a rotary union 32, toa flexible water feed pipe 33 leading to a water supply source, forexample mains. Screwed on to the threading 30 of pipe section 31 is acapping nut 34 to serve as a guide for the rotation of the distributorhead (see below).

The spigot 27 is received in a fixed sleeve, generally designated 35,arranged between the cap 34 and the upper face of the main body of thehead 25. The sleeve 35 is used for supply of the compressed air andgrease to the head 25, and is made in three abutted annular segments 36,37 and 38 which are clamped together by longitudinal bolts, one of whichis indicated at 39 in FIG- URE- 3.

The upper segment 36 is of simple ring form and is equipped internallywith an annular recess housing a rotary bearing bush 40 around the upperend of spigot 27. The second segment 37 is also provided with rotaryseals for engagement with the spigot 27, but in this case these seals 41are of hollow expansible form and housed in annular recesses 42 providedat the upper and lower faces of the ring segment 37.

Also machined into this segment 37 is an inlet 43 which passes fullythrough the wall of the segment concerned between the sealing rings 41and is threaded at its outer end for connection to a grease supply (seebelow). At its opposite end, the inlet 43 communicates with an annularchannel 44 machined around the spigot 27, and it will be observed thatthe rim of the segment 37 surrounding the inlet 43 at the inner end ofthe latter is set back somewhat to provide communication at 45 betweenthe angular spigot channel 44 and the recess 42. As will therefore beappreciated, when grease is pumped through inlet 43 into the spigotchannel 44 some of it will pass into the interior of the expansiblesealing rings 41 and maintain them in sealing contact with therespective faces of spigot 27 and segment 37.

The lower segment 33 of the sleeve is of greater length than segments 37and 37 is formed with inlets for compressed air. These inlets arerespectively designated 46 and 47 and are arranged at diametricallyopposite sides of the segment 38 and at different axial distances alongthe latter. They are screw threaded at their outer ends for coupling toair supply pipes (see below). At their inner ends each of the air inlets46 and 47 opens into an annular groove 48 and 49 respectively, in thewall of the segment itself.

Sealing rings 50 are provided in further grooves in the segment 38 so asrespectively to flank the inlets 46 and 47, and a rotary bush bearing 51is provided at the lower end of the spigot and the lower part of thesegment 38. Further bearing pads 52 are inserted between the bottom andtop end faces of the complete sleeve and the adjoining rotating faces ofthe unit.

The spigot 27 is provided with three longitudinal ducts of which thefirst, denoted 53 is intended for the passage of grease to the head 25,and communicates with the channel 44 at its upper end. The secondlongitudinal duct, designated 54 similarly communicates at its upper endwith the sleeve channel 48, whilst the third duct 55 (see FIGURE 4)terminates approximately at the level of the annular air channel 49.This latter figure shows the distributing ducting in the head 25 towhich the respective air and grease channels 53, 54 and 55 lead. It willbe observed from FIGURE 3 that these channels are plugged at 56 at theirlower ends.

In the particular instance chosen, the grease supply is intended toservice the bearings of the pivot spindles 6, the bearing sleeves 8 forthe axles of the mulling wheels 9, the central rotary shaft of thecompelte mulling assembly, and the slideways for the clamping jaws 2t),21 in arm 11. All these lubricating points are served from the singlegrease channel 53 which, adjacent its lower end is pierced byoutwardly-extending horizontal ducts 57 and 58 in head 25. Duct 58 isscrewthreaded at its end emerging from the outer surface of head 25 sothat it can be connected to a flexible pipe 59 (see FIGURES l and 2)which is connected to a union 60 serving a vertical grease channel (notshown) leading to the mainshaft bearings.

The grease duct 58 is similarly screw threaded at tis outer end toreceive a connection from a flexible pipe 61 leading to a grease union62 serving the lefthand rocker or pivot spindle 6. The duct 57 isbranched at 63 for connection to a flexible pipe 64 connecting to agrease union 65 for the other rocker spindle 6. Duct 57 is similarlybranched at 66 for connection to a flexible pipe 67 serving the bearings8 of the lower mulling wheel 9 of FIGURE 1. The corresponding bearings 8of the mulling wheel 9 is catered for by a flexible pipe 68 connected toa branch 69 of the duct 58.

The final grease connection is through a further branch 70 from the duct58, this being connected through a pipe 71 with lubricating piping 72,73 and 74 feeding the slideways for jaws 20 and 21 in arm 11.

Thus, the various moving instrumentalities of the assembly are suppliedwith grease from the single spigot duct 53, this in turn being suppliedwith the grease from a fixed line 75 to the sleeve inlet 43 and hence,via channel 44, at all times despite the rotation of spigot 27 withmulling assembly.

As has been indicated above, it is required to provide for atwo-directional flow of compressed air to the air cylinder 17 in plougharm 11 to allow for opening and closing of the jaws 20 and 21. This iscatered for by alternative supply of compressed air in one sense and theother to the two air channels 54 and 55 in the spigot, and again this isimplemented through the two air channels 54 and 55 from the fixed sleeveand despite the rotation of the spigot 27 formed with these channels.Hence (see FIGURE 2) the air channel 54 is supplied, through the annularchannel 48 in the sleeve, from a fixed air line 76, Whilst the airchannel 53 in the spigot is alternatively fed with compressed airthrough a fixed line 77. The lines 76 and 77 may, in fact, be connectedto the'same source of compressed air but through a reversing valve sothat a compressed air impulse is transmitted to one line, whilst theother line is connected to exhaust.

Referring again to FIGURE 4, it will be noted that the channels 54 and55 communicate, respectively through ducts 78 and 79, with pipes 80 and81 leading respectively to chambers 22 and 23 of the cylinder 17 in arm11.

Finally the central water supply channel 28 in the spigot communicatesat its lower end with a transverse horizontal channel 82 extendingdiametrically through the head 25 and screw threaded at its ends 16 forconnection of a spray pipe as described above.

It will be appreciated that various modifications can be made in thearrangement specifically described without departing from the scope ofthe invention as embodied in the claims hereafter. For instance, it willhave been noted that, in the specific embodiment described, provisionwas made for heightwise adjustment and setting of the outer plough 13only. In practice it is found that with a smaller capacity machine theamount of wear on the inner plough 12 is insufficient to warrant fittingof the blade adjusting means described, but in a larger machine it maybe of advantage so to do, in which case a control and operatingmechanism, served through the distributor unit described above, could beapplied to this inner plough 12.

I claim:

1. In a mulling and mixing machine of the kind specified incorporating amulling assembly, a distributor unit comprising a head composed of alower body portion and a spigot upstanding from said body portion, saidspigot having therein at least two longitudinal duets with lateralcommunications to the exterior of said spigot at upper end parts of therespective ducts, and said head being formed with a plurality oftransfer ducts communicating with the lower end parts of saidlongitudinal ducts and leading to outlets at the periphery of the bodyportion, delivery lines coupling said outlets to parts of the mullingassembly to be serviced with lubricant and compressed air, and astationary sleeve disposed around said spigot and having lateral inletsfor lubricant and compressed air spaced along the length of said sleeveand passing through the thickness of said sleeve to register, at theirinner ends, with annular channels communicating with the respectivelongitudinal ducts in said spigot.

2. A distributor unit according to claim 1, in which the spigot isformed with two longitudinal ducts for the supply of compressed air,these communicating with two separate annular channels and lateralinlets in the sleeve and with separate ducts in the head for thedelivery of compressed air to alternate sides of a pneumatic system inthe mulling assembly.

3. A distributor unit according to claim 1, in which the spigot is alsoformed with a longitudinal central channel which communicates at itslower end with at least one transverse channel in the head extending toat least one outlet in the outer side wall of this head arranged forconnection to an external sprinkler pipe rotatable with the assembly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 482,582 9/1892 Meinicke 241-381,245,625 11/1917 Shackey 241-124 X 2,303,319 12/1942 Beardsley et al.241-38 X 2,457,587 12/ 1948 Mcllvaine 22-89 2,640,651 6/ 1953 Gruender241-215 3,136,490 6/1964 Doughty 241-124 X DONALD R. SCHRAN, PrimaryExaminer.

F. T. YOST, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A MULLING AND MIXING MACHINE OF THE KIND SPECIFIED INCORPORATING AMULLING ASSEMBLY, A DISTRIBUTOR UNIT COMPRISING A HEAD COMPOSED OF ALOWER BODY PORTION AND A SPIGOT UPSTANDING FROM SAID BODY PORTION, SAIDSPIGOT HAVING THEREIN AT LEAST TWO LONGITUDINAL DUCTS WITH LATERALCOMMUNICATIONS TO THE EXTERIOR OF SAID SPIGOT AT UPPER END PARTS OF THERESPECTIVE DUCTS, AND SAID HEAD BEING FORMED WITH A PLURALITY OFTRANSFER DUCTS COMMUNICATING WITH THE LOWER END PARTS OF SAIDLONGITUDINAL DUCTS AND LEADING TO OUTLETS AT THE PERIPHERY OF THE BODYPORTION,